Saturday, August 09, 2008

Obama v McCain on Russia's invasion of Georgia

While we wait for first light in Georgia and the scale of the morning assaults — and Russia cannot be seen to lose this fight — it is worth noting the vast difference between Senator Obama’s response and Senator McCain’s. Mr. Obama is on his way to vacation a week in a private residence in his native Hawaii. Mr. McCain is on the campaign trail.

Mr. Obama remarked, “Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full-scale war…”

Mr. McCain remarked, “Russian should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all force from sovereign Georgian territory.”

On the other hand, Mr. McCain demands that Russia cease fire immediately and get out of Georgia. Webads in train, speaking also on Sunday 10 with my professionals as well as Dick Morris and Larry Kudlow and who is Neville Chamberlain and who is Winston Churchill?

The fighting should be a deafening wake-up call to the West. Our fatal mistake was made at the Nato summit in Bucharest in April, when Georgia's attempt to get a clear path to membership of the alliance was rebuffed. Mr Saakashvili warned us then that Russia would take advantage of any display of Western weakness or indecision. And it has.